Quick Propeller Repair Avoids Drydock

Photo: Hydrex

Photo: Hydrex

A team of diver and technicians recently performed a propeller blade cropping on a 190-meter container bulker berthed in Hamburg. The quick repair, performed by Hydrex, allowed the vessel to avoid drydocking.

Two parts of the tip of one of the four propeller blades were damaged and needed to be cropped to restore the propeller’s efficiency.

This kind of repair is carried out with the in-house designed propeller blade cutting equipment. In cases like this, where there is an even number of blades an identical piece will be cropped from the opposite blade to restore the hydrodynamic balance of the propeller. By doing so, the best possible efficiency is obtained.

When the cropping was complete, the Hydrex technicians buffed the blades to make sure that any remaining loss of efficiency would be minimal.

The repair was completed in less than a day and prevented any unwelcome delay to the vessel’s schedule.